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A fascinating, ground-level backstage pass to the creation, launch, and reach of the James Webb Space Telescope.. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the world's largest orbiting astronomy observatory, is now nearly a million miles from Earth, probing the first stars and galaxies, documenting the structure and evolution of the universe, and searching for signs of life in other solar systems. In a series of extraordinary photographs, Inside the Star Factory tells the story of the Webb Telescope from conception to launch - a marvel of ingenuity and engineering that entailed more than 100 million people hours over a span of thirty years.. The project's lead photographer Chris Gunn was there from the start, documenting the Webb's tumultuous history - the behind-the-scenes details of its construction, from the cutting-edge technology required for an observatory operating at temperatures as low as -370F, beyond reach for repair, to the human story of an engineering team pursuing an unprecedented goal under incomparable pressure.